


Roll of the Dice

by RoseThorn14



Category: Dimension 20: Fantasy High, Original Work
Genre: But if you watched the series, F/F, F/M, I've changed the names, M/M, Magic, Magical school, Suburban Fantasy, you'll be able to figure out who's who
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 15:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19871965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseThorn14/pseuds/RoseThorn14
Summary: It's a new year at the Alkross Adventuring Academy and once again, the school will be welcoming in a new set of freshmen to fill its hallowed halls.What happens when seven teens are plunged into the chaotic, dangerous and dubiously legal life of an Adventurer?Will they band together despite their differences? Will they be able to figure out the shady stuff that is happening at the school (besides the fact that it even exists)? And most importantly, will they be able to get through the year with at least some semblance of a social life?Follow Jaz, Adaine, Damian, Riz, Crogak, Rebecca and Rhaezella as they navigate possibly the most perilous adventure of all: high school.Oh, and monsters and murderes and other stuff like that.





	Roll of the Dice

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've tagged this as both a fanfiction and an original work because this will largely be my original story with just a few elements of the Fantasy High series thrown in (which are pretty much a lot of the characters and the plot similarities can pretty much only be seen in the first few chapters, from there it deviates into my own storyline, hopefully spanning their four years of high school and beyond). 
> 
> If I can get it to a suitable level and ever get the permission to do it, I would love to publish this as a book. And, I would love it if any of the cast would see it and see what their genuinely funny and creative gameplay has inspired. 
> 
> I also tagged this as fanfiction because there are like six of these fanfics on the sight, none of them over 10,000 words, so I plan to be the first.

Jaz

The door shook for the fifth time that morning.

“Get up!”

Jaz glanced up from where she had been tuning her bass guitar on her bed. She didn’t answer. 

Two minutes later, there was another round of banging. 

“Jastira!” her mother’s sharp voice rung from the other side. “If you don’t get up right now. You. Are. Going. To. Miss. School.”

Each of the last words were punctuated with a bang on the door. 

Jaz rolled her eyes and maintained her silence. She wasn’t going to be late. In fact, she’d packed her bag the night before and had been dressed for the past twenty minutes. But she wasn’t going to tell her mum that. 

She carded her fingers through her hair and paused as her hand hit the small sharp bones protruding out of her head. Her horns had burst from her skull six months ago after a migraine that had put her in the hospital for two whole days. It was then that her mother had admitted to both her and her dad – no it was Dalan, now. That man wasn’t her father – that Jaz was in fact a tiefling, not a wood elf like she’d thought. And on top of all that, her mother resolutely refused to tell her who her father was.

Since then, Jaz had taken to wearing an intimidating leather and combat boot outfit that was dominated by dark reds and blacks and was often pared with chokers or studded garments of some sort as opposed to the bright blues and pinks that used to dominate her wardrobe. She didn’t even try to hide the red tinged tips of her hair that had come through with her horns – another mark of her infernal heritage – and had embraced the general chaotic air that came with her father having crawled out of the depths of hell.

Jaz walked over to the narrow mirror on the back of her door, rearranging her hair to hide the horns as much as possible and casting a minor illusion to help them blend in. She wasn’t going to conceal her race, but she knew that her father being what he was could make her time at school difficult and that having her horns completely visible could cause a few issues. 

Well, at least I’m not a cambion. 

The fact that her dad was a devil – a ruler of a demonic kingdom – instead of a regular demon would hopefully make people think twice before messing with her. She snarled at the little flower sticker permanently stuck to her door – one of the few remnants of her life from before, when she wore bright colours and her room had been decked out in pinks and pastels. 

“Jastira Dilya Faith, if you don’t get down here right now, I swear I will come up there and drag you down myself!”

Jaz gave another impressive eye roll as her mum’s voice reverberated through the house. She must have used a spell to get it that loud. Nevertheless, she picked up her bag and adventuring equipment. She didn’t really want to get in another fight with her mum. On her way out she grabbed her leather jacket off her harp, which was now being used as a coat rack, whilst her lute was collecting dust in the corner next to it. 

She trudged down the stairs and strode past her mum to the car, slamming the door harder than necessary. 

Her mum got in the car behind her, adjusting her sheathed longsword and City Guard badge as she eyed her daughter like she’d never seen her before. Jaz, for her part, restrained another eye roll. She hadn’t changed that much. She was still majoring in the bard archetype for the gods’ – or, well, the devils’, she guessed – sakes. So what if she’d changed from classical elven ballads to rock anthems with a sprinkling of heavy metal? And so what if she was no longer going to Faraday School of Fine Arts like she’d wanted for the past three years – Adventuring Academy sounded way more fun anyway, and kids running away from her would be seen as a good thing at the school for badass Heroes as opposed to the school for little pansy future Poet Laureates. 

Really, the outfit and general attitude changes should have been expected. It would have been just ridiculous for a tiefling to turn up to high school dressed like some sort of cheerleader and spouting delicate limericks.

As they pulled up outside the Alkross Adventuring Academy, the locks on the car door clicked shut. 

Jaz huffed and turned to her mum with a flat gaze, just short of a glare. 

“What?”

Jaz’s mum licked her lips as she looked into her daughter’s eyes, one hand coming up to lightly rest on her shoulder. 

“I know these past few months have been hard. And you don’t know how sorry I am for how you found out about your… father.”

Jaz’s mum took a breath. “I know you don’t forgive me, and I know your very confused and still hurt, but I want you to know that you can always talk to me if you need me. I will always be here for you.”

Jaz hesitated, but gave a slight nod. 

Her mum’s face lit up in a bright smile. She leant forward and gave Jaz a light kiss on the forehead before unlocking the doors. 

“Have fun, sweetie. I love you.”

Jaz was already closing the door.

She looked up at the chaotic hodgepodge of buildings, a mix of old, castle-like monuments and modern-day architectural wonders that somehow fit together perfectly. 

She took a deep breath, before letting a mischievous smirk slip onto her face. 

She was going to give this school hell.

Damian

Damian dodged the sword as it slashed past his head. 

He ducked under another swipe, lunging forwards towards the attacker. He shoved at the chest of the man in front of him, causing him to stumble back half a step. He followed through with a quick punch towards his attacker’s face. As his dominant hand was occupied by his rapier, the left hook only snapped his opponent’s head back, without causing him to fall. 

Before Damian could make another attack, his opponent’s sword was swinging towards him again, the flat of the blade catching him in the side and sending him sprawling to the ground. He tried to roll to his feet but was stopped by a kick to the ribs that knocked the air from his lung and before he could recover, a rapier was aimed at his chest. 

“Yield,” Damian called out, and the weapon moved away from. 

Damian heard clapping as his instructor, Graham, pulled him to his feet. He glanced over to a shaded spot in the yard where his mother was sitting on a lawn chair beside their pool applauding. 

“Good show, darling,” she called out with a small, but beautiful smile gracing her unearthly, dusk elf features. 

His father got up from the lawn chair beside hers. 

“He beat you again, lad,” he pointed out bluntly. 

Damian scowled and repressed the urge to throw his weapon on the ground. That was unbecoming of a future Hero and would only earn him further scorn from his father. One must always treat their weapons with respect. Instead, he sheathed it and crossed his arms. 

“You know I’m better with a long sword, Papa,” he said, trying his best not to whine. 

His father nodded. “Aye, but any fighter – Hero, or not – must be versatile.”

He looked Damian in the eye. “If you’re not adaptable, you’re gonna get killed in your first serious battle and you may as well be better off joining the army or a common combat job, or even going to that Fine Arts school.”

Damian nodded quickly. He couldn’t be some common fighter. And the thought of having his life relegated to some sort of calligraphist or financer made him want to throw up. No, he was going to be a Hero. Just like his father, James Stormchaser. Not only was he going to be world renowned for his adventures and escapades and amass a fortune greater than even his father had managed, but he was going to go one step further than his father and be recognised by the Combined International Council not only as a Hero but as the Protector of Etrar, a position only held by the most active hero at any given time. How could he do anything else? He was the son of James Stormchaser after all. 

His father smiled at him as he clapped a hand on Damian’s shoulder. 

“You didn’t do too badly, son,” his Skagosan accent giving his voice a rough, lilting tone, even after being a citizen of Ascanna for almost two decades. “Next time, when ya get under his guard, go for the kill.”

Damian nodded again, filing the information into his head. “Right. I’ll certainly do that.”

Papa grinned, clapping his hands together. “Excellent. Now, are you ready for school?”

Damian smiled as a servant handed him his backpack and adventuring gear. “Of course, Papa.”

“Good lad,” Papa praised, pulling Damian into a hug as he continued to sprout advice. “Make sure yar peers know who’s boss right from the start. Challenge the biggest guy there if yer have to.”

“Yes, Papa,” Damian replied as he walked to the car, driven by their halfling chauffeur, Bimby, a determined fire raging in his belly as he made his way to his first day of high school.

By the end of the week, he was going to be king of the school, or, at the very least, his year level.

How could anything else happen?

Adainrya

Adaine sat rigid in her chair, not making a sound. Across from her and one seat to the right sat her mother sipping a cup of tea as she made small adjustments to her weekly social planner. Adaine’s father was directly adjacent to her mother at the head of the table, reading a newspaper like he did every morning. 

Adaine took another bite of toasted lembas and sent a small warming spell at the teacup in front of her since she’d left it to sit too long. Immediately, a small trail of steam drifted up from the cup and when she took a sip, she found her tea to be perfectly warm without burning her mouth. The momentary satisfaction of a perfectly executed spell was dampened when she glanced down at her clothes. 

Now why couldn’t she manage something like that when she was taking her entrance exam? 

The silence permeating the breakfast nook was broken when her sister entered. Dressed in her light blue and silver accented school uniform, Astawen looked every bit the graceful, elvish noblewoman ready to begin her junior year at the leading academic school in the country she was supposed to be. 

“Sorry I’m late, everyone. I was just making sure that I had all of my books,” her sister excused as she smoothly slid into her seat directly to Adaine’s right and on her father’s left. 

Father waved her apology away with an indulgent smile but didn’t stop reading his paper. Mother also favoured Astawen with a silent nod. Adaine frowned. If she had shown up late, she would have at least received a few snide comments. 

Her mother finished examining her planner and put it down delicately on the table next to her before glancing at her children. 

“Are you excited for the new year, My Sweets?” she asked in her melodic alto. 

Astawen straightened her already perfect posture and shot Mother a radiant smile. 

“I can’t wait to start a new year at Covington,” she proclaimed proudly, stressing the name of her school. 

Adaine trained her eyes on her lap. Her skirt was a darker blue than her sister’s because Adaine hadn’t made it into Covington College of Academia, the local Academic school. She had failed the entrance exam because she had forgotten how to breath and started hyperventilating when the twenty-page test had been placed in front of her and completely burst into tears once the practical portion had been presented to her. Instead, she had to attend her second school – Alkross Adventuring Academy. Her parents were unimpressed to say the least. 

There were quite a few different types of high schools, with Fine Arts, Adventuring, Combat and Academia being the most popular throughout Ascanna and many of the other most powerful countries in the Combined International Council. The Ambastacien’s, like the majority of other old dawn elven (the generally more affluent and well bread of the two species of high elf) aristocracy had all been smart enough to attend the Academic school. All except Adaine. 

To be fair, getting into an Adventuring Academy was no small feat either. Some circles would even deem them more impressive than any other type of school. But not her family. Of course, not her family. No, Heroing, even though it could obtain her more wealth and glory than possibly any other job on Etrar, was not prestigious enough for the Ambastaciens. It wasn’t like she couldn’t still be a diplomat like her father, the Elven Ambassador from Linneria, or a university lecturer and magical researcher like her mother, just because she didn’t go to a school of Academia. Adventuring Academies were the most versatile type of school out there and produced graduates that went on to study in all types of professions. Just because their students were maybe not as smart or genteel or – 

She was broken out of her thoughts by her mother addressing her for the first time that morning. 

“Adainrya, your… ah … Academy has a bus, does it not?”

Adaine fought from gaping. Her parents weren’t even going to bother taking her to school?

“Usually, parents find this out for their children before they leave on their first day,” she informed her mother frostily. 

Her mother pursed her lips, her eyes turning sharp. “Well, why don’t you use one of your little divination spells and put to use your practical magic to find a way there. You will need to become accustomed to using it since you will not be attending a theoretically focused school.”

Before any more icy barbs rained down on her, her sister giggled. 

“There is no need to risk using my sister’s magic – the bus leaves in ten minutes, Mother. I’ve seen it every morning for the past two years.”

She stood from the table. 

“Come, little sister, I’ll make sure you have a competent magic user to walk you to the bus stop. I won’t be late since I’m taking the car.”

Her mother floated away as her sister went to grab her school supplies from her room and Adaine made to storm out of the breakfast nook, intent on already being on her way to the bus stop by the time she got back down. However, she was stopped by her father. 

“I have something for you, Adainrya,” he informed her. He waved his hands and conjured a huge crystal ball, almost 40 centimetres in diameter. 

“I understand you require an arcane focus to help with any… combat situations you might find yourself in. This is one I received from an old warlock acquaintance who studied offensive magic. He fought in some war or another. I have no use for it.”

He floated the transparent sphere over to her and it took both of Adaine’s arms to hold it. How would something this bulky help in a fight?

“It’s a little…” she begun, before cutting herself off. It was too late. Her father had heard. 

“What was that?”

Adaine swallowed. “No, nothing, Father. It’s fine. Thank you.”

Father shook his head slowly. “Really, I don’t know where I went wrong Adainrya. I try my best. I really do. And when I try to show my support for your foolish attempts at adventuring, of all things, you show nothing but scorn.”

Adaine’s heart sunk and she felt her breath quicken. She pushed down the panic. 

“It was nothing father,” she said quickly, making her way to the door. “I was just surprised. Thank you, really.”

Her sister was waiting for her in the hall, but Adaine ignored her insults all the way to the bus stop. Once there, her sister immediately turned around. 

“Have fun at your new school… if you can even call it that.”

With that last barb, Adaine snapped. She flicked her wrist, shooting a lime green spell at her sister, only to have it reflected back onto her as it bounced off her sister’s shield. 

Astawen laughed hysterically as slime dripped through Adaine’s white hair, tinging it a putrid green colour. Adaine rushed onto the bus before things could get worse for her and threw herself into the seat as she struggled to breathe through the choking panic.

What was she going to do?

Corgak

A loud crack echoed through the room and Corgak found himself falling. He jerked awake as he hit the floor and immediately knew what had happened. 

He had broken the bed. Again. He’d smashed it into pieces in his sleep.

Something hot sparked inside him. His fists clenched togethers and he felt the boiling heat of rage bubble up from his gut and start to seep into his limbs. 

He took a deep breath. 

Don’t let the anger control you, Corgak. You are the master of your emotions.

He still wanted to smash everything into dust. With some reluctance, he moved on from the affirmations the monk psychologist had recommended him and started humming the song the halfling man had helped him construct. 

He murmured the words quietly, rocking himself as he looked out the small window of his bedroom, watching the sun peak over the horizon.

“This is Corgak’s song. It’s for wind and sunshine. Flowers, rainbows, music. The opposite of rage. This is Corgak’s song. To calm him down and help him. He will grow things and get happiness and friends.”

The song, no matter how stupid, did, in fact, help him calm down after he’d muttered the bright tune a few times. Once he no longer felt like destroying everything in his sight, Corgak lumbered over to his desk, ducking slightly to avoid hitting the roof. Even though his adoptive gnomish parents had given him the room with the tallest ceiling, his hulking half-orc form, which was 6’5 despite only being 14, felt cramped and ridiculously gigantic in the old hollowed out tree that was his house. 

Corgak sat at his desk and put his headphones on, closing his eyes as the soft rock tones of the Thorn Bashers filled his ears. As the sun crept further over the horizon, Corgak tried to lose himself in the music and avoid thinking about the day to come. It was a surprise to his parents when Corgak had wanted to go to Alkross Adventuring Academy. It was a surprise to Corgak that he got in. 

In the back of his mind, he was sure that he was just filling out the diversity log that the school wanted, half-orcs weren’t exactly known for their academic prowess or analytical thinking, both things at least moderately prized by Adventuring schools. His parents, on the other hand, had probably hoped that he would want to go to the Faraday School of Fine Arts and follow them into the tinkering profession or feared he would go to the combat school and join the army as some overworked, under-payed grunt. Of course, they had never told him any of that – Corgak’s adoptive parents, Edmund and Esmerelda Springleaf, were always supportive of anything he did and provided him with as much love and care as he could want. 

Corgak’s heart sunk as he thought about them. He didn’t want to disappoint them. To burden them. They’d helped him with every dangerous and annoying little quirk that came with being a half-orc and Corgak had rarely been able to repay them by being the successful, talented son they deserved. 

He hadn’t been able to make many friends at the local primary school. The gnomish and halfling children that had made up the bulk of the population had been scared by his intimidating form, often more than three times their size. Despite it being much more diverse, he anticipated similar problems at Alkross. He surely wouldn’t be able to fit in with any of the few other half orcs. Despite his rage issues, and the fact that he would probably major as a barbarian, he usually abhorred violence, which, from what he’d understood of his late-night internet searches, was an uncommon trait amongst his race. He was also plagued with a painful awkwardness that no amount of therapy could cure. 

He sighed as the familiar hollow feeling filled his chest. Hopefully he would make at least one friend in his four years, though even that small goal was not likely to be achieved. 

Sometime later, there was a knock on his door. Corgak’s voice cracked as he gave a soft, ‘Come in.’

His parents, both only half his height shuffled in.

“Oh, you’re already up buddy,” his dad observed cheerefully.

Corgak nodded glumly.

“Yeah, I’ve been up a while,” he rubbed the back of his head and looked down at the ground. “I, uhh, broke the bed again.”

His parents’ eyes immediately snapped to the jagged heap that was his bed. He saw their faces fall, but the disappointment lasted only for a second before they brightened again. 

“That’s okay, bud,” his mum said lightly. She waved her hand and the pale green glow of gnomish magic surrounded the broken wood before the bed fixed and remade itself.

“Yeah,” his dad answered. “It’s nothing a little magic can’t fix.”

“Did you sing your song?”

Corgak nodded again, even as he felt himself blush at the memory. There was no denying it, the song sounded stupid. His embarrassment abated somewhat as his parents beamed at him. 

“That’s great, bud!” his dad praised. “Why don’t you get ready for school and we’ll drop you off.”

“Sure,” Corgak replied with yet another nod.

“Great! I’ll go get my tools ready.” With that, his dad left his room whilst his mum stepped forward to give him a hug. 

“I love you, bud. We’re so proud of you.” She pulled his head down to give him a kiss on the cheek and then followed her husband. 

Corgak’s heart swelled as he watched her bounce out. He didn’t deserve them. 

He made it to the car without breaking anything else and rode in the truck bed of his parent’s old ute. 

“Bye!” his mum waved out the window as he got out, making sure his great axe was strapped properly to his back.

His stomach churned as he trudged up to the intimidating sprawl of buildings surrounded by kilometres and kilometres of trees. 

He hoped he didn’t mess this up. 

Rebecca

Rebecca knelt by her bed, eyes closed. 

She’d already finished her mandatory 20 minutes of prayer she had to complete before breakfast, but, as usual she devoted a few more minutes to honour Helios, god of the sun, than the church deemed necessary. 

Usually she would follow this with a bible study, but today she would have to have breakfast first. If she didn’t, she would be late for school. High School. Wow. She couldn’t really believe she was going. As it was, Kristen resolved to read in the car on the way there.

The door opened without a knock and Rebecca looked up. Both of her parents were standing in the doorway. Her dad was in a formal work suit, ready to go to his job at the bank whilst her mum was in a modest dress that hit her mid-calves and an apron. She would change after breakfast to go to her job as a secretary. They looked like the perfect suburban couple. 

Rebecca would never tell them this, but that image was part of the reason why she wanted to go to Adventuring Academy. How could she help heal people around the world if she only ever saw one type of person?

“You ready, darling?” Mum asked.

Rebecca nodded, picking up her bible from her bedside table before grabbing her other stuff.

Her parents shared a worried look before turning back Kristen, her Mum’s shoulders set in a sort of tense hunch and both their faces held anxious frowns. 

“You know it’s still not too late to change your mind,” Mum reminded her for what might have been the four hundredth time. 

“Yes,” Dad agreed quickly. “You could still go to the Sun Temples in the valley like all the other church kids.”

Rebecca restrained a sigh. “Mum, Dad, you know I want to go spread the word of Helios in disadvantaged nations and the lady from the International Sun Deities Alliance said I’d have to go to Adventuring Academy for them to sanction my mission.”

“I just worry, darling,” Mum said in a tone that was almost a whine. “I don’t like the thought that you’ll have to board there in your Junior and Senior year.”

This time it was an eye roll Rebecca had to hold back. “I’d have to board from this year if I went to the temple. And I’ll be able to come home on weekends.”

Dad nodded. “We know, but Pastor Lanning advised against it. You were blessed by Helios himself. You’re special darling. You shouldn’t be mixing with those…”

Something hot shot through Rebecca. “Those what Dad?”

“You know what your father means,” Mum snapped back. 

Rebecca scowled. “Non-humans? News flash Mum, there are non-humans everywhere. In fact, most of the world are non-humans. Just because there are more of us than any other race doesn’t mean we’re the best. Thinking so would be foolish, and racist.”

Mum crossed her arms. “That’s not what we were saying Rebecca. Besides, how can I be racist when I haven’t met them? You just shouldn’t be mixing with them.”

Rebecca didn’t bother holding back her annoyed huff.

“Helios wants us to love everyone, Mum!” she exclaimed, holding up her bible, which was glowing slightly as some of her divine energy from her blessing emitted from her. “Discrimination is not love!”

Mum held her hands up, “Hey, you’re the blessed one, so of course you know more than me.”

Rebecca scowled again, glaring fiercely. 

Dad, obviously sensing an impending shouting match, steered his wife away from the doorway, shooting Rebecca a strained smile. “We leave in ten, Becs. Food’s on the table.”

Rebecca was silent for the entire car ride, her triplet brothers, Randy, Rick and Riley causing a loud clamour as they were squished into the seats next to her. Just as they pulled into school, Rick caught Riley in the face with a stray elbow. There was a soft crunch and blood spurted from her brother’s face. He blinked silent for a second before the pain hit and he started wailing loudly. 

Rebecca sighed at their antics, but took his face gently in her hands, expertly dodging the flailing limbs. 

“It’s alright,” she murmured comfortingly as she lightly tapped a finger to his broken nose. 

Riley’s face glowed with a golden light and his nose realigned itself. Another wave of her hand and all traces of blood evaporated, leaving only a warm, comforting sensation.

The car came to a stop just as Mum turned around to check on the chaos, her expression set in a hard line, ready to shout at one of the boys. Her eyes skirted over the scene before her. 

“You heal your brother?” she asked. 

Rebecca nodded, still enjoying the pleasant warmth her magic left behind. 

Her eyes softened and a small smile graced her features. “You know what? I’m not worried about you. You’ll do great, darling.”

Rebecca smiled back at her. 

“Bye Mum and Dad. May the sun grace your day,” she said, using one of the many predetermined greeting and farewell phrases of the Helionic faith.

Mum beamed. “Goodbye darling. May Helios smile upon you.” 

Dad drove away with a cheerful. “Bye Rebecca!”

Rebecca turned around to face Alkross Adventuring Acadamy, breathing in the fresh air as she enjoyed the sound of the students bustling around her.

She was going to help people.

Finn

Finn took another sip of coffee as he looked around his room. 

One of the walls had his wardrobe and chest of drawers pushed up against it with a small rack for his weapons and other rogue equipment, the second held his window that lead to the fire escape whilst the third was dominated by three different cork boards. It was these cork boards that Finn focused on. Each one had a different heading on it: Mrs Smithers, Penny’s Friends and Ships. 

The first held pictures of a tabby cat. Most of them were from far away and featured what was presumably the same creature in various trees and garbage dumps. Across the bottom was a patchily filled in timetable that seemed to attempt to track the cat’s movements. Mrs Henderson, the halfling lady from down the hall, had mentioned to Finn two weeks ago that her cat, Mrs Smithers, had gone missing and Finn had spent most of the last weeks of his Summer looking for her. 

The second only held two photos, one of a red-headed dwarven girl and another of a blonde, gnomish girl. Both were smiling brightly in their photos. There were other bits of printed information littering the sparse board, each connected by a bit of red string to one of the photos. One particularly large label read ‘Alkross Adventuring Academy’. Their former neighbour and Finn’s only friend, Penny Luxembourg’s best friend (the dwarven girl) had disappeared at the end of the year along with one other girl and the mystery had plagued Finn since the end of the year.

The third was the blankest of all of them, with only three news articles pinned to it. Each detailed a ship that had disappeared mysteriously in the last month. 

There was a knock on his door and then his mum was coming in, dressed in her Police Captain’s uniform. 

“You ready, bud?” she asked, a slight frown pulling at her face as she as she saw him looking at the boards. 

“Did you get enough sleep?” she questioned, her voice tinged with worry even as the tired lines and dark bags under her eyes showed that she hadn’t. 

“Yes,” he replied, and he could see her pretend that she couldn’t hear the lie in his voice. 

Just like he pretended that she wasn’t constantly exhausted from working too many shifts and didn’t sometimes skip meals so he could eat. Just like he pretended that he didn’t know obsessing over mysteries that didn’t really affect him wasn’t healthy and just like how they both pretended that his unhealthy fixation wasn’t a direct result of the untreated trauma of having his dad suddenly die five years ago. 

She jerked her head, “Come on. You don’t wanna be late.”

Finn nodded and turned towards his bed, packing the last few things into his brief case. 

His mum frowned again. “Are those business cards?”

Finn ducked his head. “No?”

His mum sighed. “Give them to me.”

Her eyes grazed over them. She scowled. “Really Finn?”

Finn’s head ducked further as he rubbed the back of his long, goblin ears. 

“You can’t say you’re a licenced private investigator.”

“I haven’t. The un’s just in…really…small…font.”

His mum was glaring at him and Finn blushed. She sighed again and pocketed the stack of cards. “You’re not getting these back.”

She strode out of the room with Finn following behind her as she headed to the car. “I want you to focus on your schoolwork, not those girls. Okay, Finn? Us police have got it covered. We’re not completely incompetent you know.”

Behind her Finn nodded. 

“Maybe try making some friends, alright?”

“Alright, Mum,” he agreed as he got in the car. 

The drive there was relatively silent as his mum listened intently to the news on the radio and Finn pondered. He didn’t expect Penny to hang out with him. She was a Druidic senior, and pretty popular too. Even Finn knew that didn’t translate to a working in-school relationship. But, with some luck, he would make a little headway into the disappearance of her friend. Maybe work towards repaying her for the years she’d put up with his nerdiness and for the time she’d spent with him after his dad died. 

As the pulled up in the drop-off zone, his mum turned to him. 

“You sure you wanna go with the briefcase, kiddo? It’s not too late. You can shove your stuff into your backpack for now and we can get you a knapsack or satchel of some sort?” 

Finn shook his head. “Nah, Mum. It’s okay. The briefcase’s cool.”

His mum sighed and looked at the ceiling for a second before nodding reluctantly. 

“Okay, bud.” She leaned forward to hug him. “I’m so proud of you for making it into Adventuring Academy. You’ll make a brilliant Rogue, sweetie. Have fun. I love you.”

Finn grinned back. “Love you too, Mum!”

With a wave, he turned to the school and started wandering over to where the freshman were supposed to drop off their bags and battle equipment before orientation. 

Time to do some sleuthing

Rhaezella

Rhae wasn’t sure if she was ready for this. 

She’d never been to a school before, and she’d heard that high school was the worst one.

Prior to this year, she’d always moved around. Up until three years ago, it had been with her Mum, who had needed to move around for her job in the Combined International Council, the institution that governed many of the international laws every nation abided by. Of course, each country had its own Council to deal with laws and specific punishment types and lengths. But anything involving two or more countries other than an official war was usually dealt with by the CIC. 

When her Mum had died in a boating accident two years ago, her godfather, Mandral had taken custody of her. He was an official Hero for the CIC and had to move around a lot to complete individual quests, so her lifestyle hadn’t really changed much. However, Mandral’s most recent assignment involved some undercover work and he couldn’t have Rhae and her older sister, Amara, living with him. So, they’d come to live with her godmother, Kaelessa.

These past few months had certainly been strange to say the least. Kaelessa was a dawn elf, a tall, regal figure with deep auburn hair and porcelain skin. Both Marlan and Rhae’s Mum had been dusk elves – still part of the high elves with their own set of strange aristocracy, but an altogether less elite and more casual subrace of elves as a whole. Amara and Rhae both had the bronze skin-tone of the dusk elves, despite Rhae only being half-elf (both girls had different fathers that they didn’t know, but they generally favoured her mother’s looks, with the exception of Rhae’s hair), and had taken a few weeks to adjust to the formal, reserved demeanour of their new guardian. Though they’d seen their godmother quite a few times whilst growing up, and Kaelessa was always warm to them, the dawn elf conducted herself in public with a strict reservation that made it hard for her to relax in private.

It was strange not having a change of scenery to expect. Both Marlan and Kalessa had agreed that she and her sister should stay with the dawn elf until they’d completed their studies so that they could obtain formal diplomas. Rhae didn’t know why. Amara had been doing just fine completing her studies through a nomadic lifestyle course.

But this is what the adults had decided, so there was no point in arguing. Besides, Adventuring school might be fun. Rhae wasn’t gonna lie. She kind of wanted to get into the Academia Institute like her sister, if only to prove that she could, but she’d looked at the courses there and knew they were too constricting for what she was looking at. Even Amara had to take some classes at the Fine Arts school because it was the only place that had the resources for the sought of highly specialised artistic illusionary magic Amara was experimenting with. 

However, Rhae truthfully had no idea what she wanted to do. She knew that since she was going to the Adventuring Academy, she should want to be a Hero or adventurer or some other daring figure, but she the truth was she applied there because it was the most versatile school, other than the Fine Arts one, and she wasn’t going to go there.

Gut still churning like it had all morning, Rhae smoothed out her clothes one more time before going downstairs where her breakfast and bags were waiting. 

She paused as she entered the kitchen. 

“Juniper?” she asked, using her godmother’s middle name – a thing she only allowed her and Amara to do.

Rhae’s godmother looked up looked up from where she was plating up some eggs on elven lembas. 

“Good morning, Zellie-wan,” she said, gracing her with the stunning smile Rhae only ever saw when they were in private. After weeks of stilted conversation and uncomfortable formality, Juniper had finally loosened up around them. When they were alone, she even went so far as to use her own specialised nicknames. 

However, she’d never cooked them breakfast before. Usually they’d fend for themselves in the mornings, whilst Juniper’s personal chef (because what else was the high elf going to spend her exorbitant wealth that she got from both her very well-paying job and her aristocratic heritage on?) arrived to cook them lunch and dinner. 

She slowly walked over to the kitchen island and slipped onto the stool beside her sister, who was sitting silently already dressed perfectly in her pale blue Covington uniform, looking at Juniper with a kind of shocked, almost scared confusion.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Rhae said, and then winced at her lack of tact. 

To Juniper’s credit, her smile didn’t dim. 

“I thought I’d go into work late and drop you guys off for the first day of school. Your sister has already agreed to get to Covington early,” she informed Rhae in a light tone she had never heard from her godmother before. 

Juniper allowed them to stare silently at her for a full three seconds before her shoulders drooped and her levity evaporated. 

“Look,” she began, her azure eyes boring into them. “I know the last few years have been hard for you girls. And I know the last few months have been a lot to get used to. You two have been so great, and I’m not worried about you, in fact I’m so proud of both of you for how you handle yourselves and I know your Mum would be proud to…It’s just, you girls have had a lot of disruption in your lifestyles and you deserve something at least a little normal, so I’d like to start your school years off by having your guardian drive you in for your first day.”

Juniper paused a few times throughout her speech as if she had to force herself to get the words out. Rhae’s heart clenched and she was reminded just how much Juniper cared, even if she didn’t always show it. It was just hard for her to connect with other people since she was centuries old and had been raised to be a withdrawn, regal figure.

Rhae nodded, smiling at her godmother. 

“Thanks June,” she said warmly, pulling her plate towards her. Amara followed suite. The eggs had a slightly weird texture and the lembas was a little overtoasted, but Rhae made sure to finish her plate. 

The car ride was filled with the polite yet superficial conversation Juniper and them often shared in public. Amara hugged her and ruffled her as she got out of the car and Rhae walked around to sit in the front. 

“Bye, sis. I’m gonna go hit the library.”

As she was walking away, perfect waves bouncing elegantly on her back and movements flowing with elven grace, she threw a parting ‘Love you RiRi’ over her shoulder. 

Rhae made sure to reply with ‘Love you RaRa’ before getting in the car. 

She sighed as they pulled away. She was never going to be as good as her sister. Not only was Amara smart enough to be accepted into an Academia school, but she already had her life planned out. She was going to into experimental warding with a side career of magical fashion design. She had even released a few pieces the previous year, despite not actually having a formal education in fashion design and already had merchants from Uskya and Penao begging for more of her creative genius.

Rhae didn’t know what she was going to do. She was good at a lot of things. But she wasn’t the best at anything like her sister was. She knew she could be a very powerful sorceress and even managed to dabble in some wizardry and druidic magic, but her powers were hard to control and focus. That was the main reason she hadn’t gotten into Covington. The practical portion of the entry exam, however small, had required a level of refined magical finesse that would have taken Rhae at least ten minutes of meditation to achieve. So, when she was meant to conjure an ornate chandelier on the spot, she’d made a slightly dangerous, jagged crystal mess.

Finally, they pulled up outside of Alkross after having to navigate one of the small winding rows through the seemingly endless forests surrounding it. Juniper stopped her as she opened the car door with a delicate hand on her arm. 

“Don’t worry, Rhae. I know that whatever you do, you’ll be amazing.”

Rhae smiled back at her and tried not to reveal the pressure her godmother had accidentally hoisted onto her. 

Juniper reached into her bag and pulled out a small package of tissue paper. 

“Here,” she said gently, handing her a package.

Rhea carefully unwrapped the delicate paper and gasped quietly at what she saw inside.

She picked up a delicate black chain. Attached to it was a crystal necklace, shaped in an eight-pointed star. Four of the points on the star were longer than the ones on either side of them, kind of like the compass stars on some maps. Overall, the pendant was about the size of her palm. 

She reached out her other hand to touch it and, as her fingers brushed the crystal with her fingertips, the translucent stone, bloomed with colour. A dark blue filled the crystal until the previously white, diamond-like gem looked like a sapphire formed in the depths of the sea.

“It’s a magical focus,” Rhae whispered, tone reverent in awe. 

Juniper nodded. “It was your mother’s.”

Rhae’s eyebrows drew together and a small frown pulled at her lips. 

“Shouldn’t Mari get this then?” 

Juniper shook her head. “No. You’re the one going to an Adventuring Academy. You need it more.”

Rhae’s frown deepened. Seeing this, Juniper leant forward and gently took a hold of Rhae’s hands. 

“Your mother would have wanted you to have this. Trust me.”

Rhae didn’t smile, but her mouth smoothed from a frown to a tight line. She gave a slight nod. 

Juniper smiled tenderly and took the necklace from her hands. 

“Now, the chain is magic as well,” she informed her goddaughter matter-of-factly as she reached behind her neck to fix it in place. “It can change colour and the pendant is attached to it by magical attraction – so don’t worry about it falling off.”

She leaned back when she was finished. “There.”

Rhae looked down at the chain around her neck and watched as the pendant changed back to a clear, whitish colour. 

Miss Juniper lightly touched her cheek, and when Rhae looked up, she found her smiling softly.

“Go,” she urged gently. “Have fun.”

Rhae nodded solemnly and got out of the car, feeling both heavier and lighter than when she got in.

She allowed herself to be overwhelmed by the intimidating buildings and pure magical energy emanating from the school for three seconds before she straightened her spine, set her facial features and strode to the front lawn where the students were congregating. 

Here’s hoping she won’t completely fuck this up.


End file.
